IS THIS LEGAL?Only 1 electric socket in a room

maytaurus

I wondered if someone could answer this question :question:
I know someone who lives in a privately rented house
There is only one socket in each room :eek:

Hence her tv ,stereo, lamps ,electric fire and xmas decorations are all in one socket and I think it's dangerous....
her landlord says it'fine ! :question:

:xmastree::xmassign::xmastree:

Running_Horse

When our buyers had a survey on our house, it said there were not enough sockets for modern day needs (one double socket in each room), but the surveyor did not suggest this was in any way illegal. Regardless of what the landlord should be doing, your also friend has a responsibility not to act in a dangerous manner, and overloading sockets is not the wisest course of action.

MissMoneypenny

They could ring their local councils Building Control Department and ask them.

Perhaps we should create a sticky of things to watch out for when looking at rentals?

wherediditallgo

There are many properties with only one socket in some rooms - my old bedroom was just like that, & my present bedroom was like that too until I had another socket fitted. When I looked into it, I was told that it was my landlord's responsibility to ensure the electricity installation complied with current legislation. However, it was my responsibility to ensure that I didn't overload the circuitry, & I was warned that if there was a fire my insurance would be affected if the fire was found to have been started because of an overloaded socket. If your friend overloads the sockets & causes a fire, they could find themselves deep in the brown stuff, assuming they haven't killed themselves or someone else.

Perhaps your friend could ask the landlord to get another socket fitted in the room or rooms where havng only one causes the most inconvenience, & go halves on the cost. He's under no legal obligation to fit more though if the installation meets the current legislative requirements, so if he refuses their choice is to either first get his permission to have the work done at their own expense, or limit how they use the available sockets.

Lavendyr

Our master bedroom only has one socket, but we don't run that much off it (4-way extension cable for 1 bedside lamp, 1 radio and occasionally 1 mobile phone charger). However if it's, say, the living room, that does seem a little bit harsh. You could always try bringing it up with the landlords with the angle that if they do ever want to sell the house, it would benefit them to have better wiring put in.

darich

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

They could ring their local councils Building Control Department and ask them.

Perhaps we should create a sticky of things to watch out for when looking at rentals?

It may have been acceptable when the property was built but not now. That doesn't mean it should be changed to today's standards.

RabbitMad

Dunno what your complaining about. When I was a lad there was only 2 sockets upstairs in our 6 bedroom house. My parents had one in their room and as I was a boy I got the other in my room (probably so my dad could play with my train set).

Other than that I agree with Lavendyr

silvercar

Extension cables are all fused, so if you did overload a 4-gang extension its fuse would blow.

guppy

I'd try and negotiate with the LL, especially if you are thinking of staying a while. I'd hope (maybe against the odds) that they would be realistic. And not want their property burning down

PoorDave

Do you really need that many things plugged in at once anyway?

PasturesNew

PoorDave wrote: »

Do you really need that many things plugged in at once anyway?

I think many people do.

Right now in this one room I have:
- TV
- fan heater
- PC base unit
- PC monitor
- printer
- phone (cordless) base unit
- mobile phone charging

Later on I will also need to be using:
- laptop
- transcription machine
- reading lamp

It's surprising what you do need/have on at times.

I have 6 sockets in one bedsitting room 9'x14', but even so it's tricky and I end up placing/using things in positions based on where the nearest spare socket is.

I bought an extension lead + a 4-way gang socket for the whole PC setup.